It took the Xavier Saints about two months to develop a new identity this season and get on a roll.

Now they hope it will carry them all the way to the Class 3A state tournament again.

The resurgent Saints marched to the foul line and topped Cedar Rapids Prairie, 60-56, in an intense Mississippi Valley Conference game at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

The Saints have a modest 7-9 overall record at this point in the season, but they've won three straight games and have looked good in back-to-back wins over Cedar Falls and Prairie.

"We weren't playing well at the start of the year. To get a couple of wins here is great for us," said Jackson Joens, a veteran of last year's state champions. "We're just hoping to make another run down to Des Moines."

Xavier won the spirited game at the foul line, outscoring the visitors 22-3 at the charity stripe. The Saints shot 19 free throws in the second half and Prairie did not shoot any, a stat that did not escape the attention of the Hawks.

Yegge is also the highly successful coach at Kirkwood Community College, and he sees former players and former assistants at a variety of stops during the high school season.

Xavier head coach Nikki Gahring used to work for Yegge at Kirkwood, Xavier assistant coach Kristen Winter played for Yegge at Kirkwood and is now one of his assistants during the college softball season, and new Xavier assistant coach Maddie Hansen was an All-American catcher for the Eagles this past season when they finished fifth in the country.

"Nikki was my right-hand man for three years, Kristen was basically my right-hand man this year going into the national tournament and Maddie had a great year for us," Yegge said. "It is kind of neat.

"It's pretty cool to see that those guys are out there doing it. It must say we're doing something right and they love it."

Yegge got the upper hand on his friends at Xavier Wednesday as the Hawks swept the Saints, 12-0 in four innings and 5-3 in the Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill.